In virtually every construction or public works project, surveying is used to map the area for the project, identifying with relative precision the locations of geological and other topographic features, elements of the project, and the like. Traditionally, these surveying tasks were performed manually, using transits and the like to measure distances, elevations, angles, etc.; this data was then recorded by hand by a surveyor and later used to produce maps and other documents.
More recently, surveyors have begun to use more sophisticated tools, which can include features like global positioning system (“GPS”) receivers, radio transmitters, computers, and the like to facilitate the measurement and recording of data. These tools (generally referred to herein as “survey devices”) can have a range of features and abilities, but generally they share the ability to record measurements electronically. Typical examples of survey devices include, but are not limited to, the Trimble R8™ Global Navigation Satellite System (“GNSS”), the Trimble R7™ GNSS, the Trimble R6™ and R3™ GPS systems, the Trimble 5700™ and 5800™ GPS receivers, and the Trimble TCS2™, CU™, ACU™ and Recon™ controllers, all commercially available from Trimble Navigation Limited. Other examples of survey devices can include virtually any device that is capable of measuring and/or recording data.
These electronically-recorded measurements from a survey device can then be used by an engineer (or other operator) as input to a surveying office application (or, for that matter, any other type of application that is designed to utilize such data). Such applications often include features similar to those provided by computer-aided design (“CAD”) programs, and can allow a user to design a project. (Alternatively, a surveying office application might be used to perform the original site layout, at which point the layout can be exported to a traditional design application for the design of the project.) One example of a surveying office application is the Trimble Business Center™, commercially available from Trimble Navigation Limited. The surveying data recorded by the survey devices, then, can be used to ensure that the project design is consistent with the reality of the site for which the project is planned.
Traditionally, the process of communicating data between survey devices and surveying office applications has been a relatively manual, error-prone process. This creates several issues. First, this type of process is relatively inefficient. Second, in many applications, the fidelity of the survey data is of paramount importance, and errors introduced by the data communication process can present severe challenges to the successful completion of a project.
As a complicating factor, in many cases, multiple survey devices may be used for a single project, further exacerbating the issue of data consistency. Generally, it is important for each survey device to have consistent data; using a manual data synchronization process, it is difficult to ensure that all devices (and the surveying office application) have consistent, up-to-date data. Moreover, there is a possibility that data will be changed, either intentionally or inadvertently, in the office application or on one or more of the devices. Traditionally, there has been no satisfactory way to determine which set of data is correct.
While other tools exist for synchronizing data between a personal computer and a handheld device, these tools generally are insufficient to meet the needs of users of surveying office applications. Merely by way of example, most synchronization tools typically only are configured to synchronize data between a personal computer and a single device, or if such tools do support more than one device, they cannot ensure data consistency between the devices themselves. Moreover, such tools have no facility for addressing the specific data requirements of surveying applications.
Hence, these issues and others have created a long-felt need for more robust tools for ensuring consistency of data between a surveying office application and one or more survey devices that operate with that office application.